殺菁(blanching)係蔬果加工過程中重要的環節，其目的為抑制或破壞其中的酵素活性以及減少微生物數 目。傳統加工方法常利用熱水處理進行殺菁以達成酵素失活，但加熱處理易造成蔬果營養成分及質地品質降 解等不良影響。為解決上述問題，本研究旨在探討以介電質放電（Dielectric barrier discharge, DBD)非熱電漿進 行切片蘋果及切片香蕉之殺菁處理，分析多酚氧化酶(Polyphenol oxidase, PPO)活性及以該酵素為主的酶促褐變 現象是否受到抑制、水果的成份及質地品質影響等，以評估DBD電漿進行水果殺菁之可行性。以電漿進行水 果切片殺菁處理正反面各5〜15分鐘，對照熱水殺菁處理(65t) 5〜15分鐘，雖然電漿處理導致切片水果之PPO活 性下降成效不如熱水處理效果，然而切片蘋果或香蕉經電漿處理15分鐘，其PPO活性即可有效分別下降87%及 48%。電漿處理前後水果切片溫度無顯著上升，對水果質地、維生素C含量影響均明顯低於加熱處理造成的損 害。相較於熱水處理結果，切片水果經電漿處理後儲藏至第3天，僅產生輕微的褐變，顔色變化明顯較低。因 此非熱電漿極具潛力可望應用於切片水果之殺菁處理。

Blanching is an important step in fruit and vegetable processing to inactivate enzymes and to reduce the microbial population. Traditionally, hot water blanching is commonly used to inactivate enzymes. However, this process easily leads to quality deterioration and nutritional loss in foods. To solve the problems, this study was aimed to evaluate the use of dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) non-thermal plasma for blanching of sliced apples and bananas. The polyphenol oxidase (PPO) activities in the fruits were analyzed. Whether enzymatic browning mainly associated with PPO was thus inhibited by DBD was investigated. The DBD-treated fruit content and quality were also studied. The sliced fruits were blanched by DBD plasma treatment for 10, 20 and 30 min (5, 10, 15 min for side) or by hot-water treatment at 65oC for 5, 10 and 15 min. Although plasma treatment was not as efficient as hot-water treatment regarding PPO inactivation in the sliced fruits, the treatment for 15 min (on both sides) could effectively inhibit 87% and 48% of PPO activity in sliced apples and bananas, respectively. After the treatment, no significant change in the fruit surface temperature was reported. The plasma impacts on the quality and vitamin C content of sliced fruits were obviously lower than those caused by thermal treatment. During 3 days of storage after the treatment, the fruits underwent slight browning, resulting in significantly smaller color changes than those from fruits treated by hot-water. Therefore, the non-thermal plasma has promising potential for use in blanching fresh-cut fruits.